“It was cool because I’m never really up close with animals,” Kincaid said. “I mean, I have a cat at home.”

The farm presented a unique setting for teaching more than just history and science lessons, though. Students were responsible for maintaining their campsite, in addition to doing their own laundry and cooking.

“Tuscaloosa doesn’t have places where you can do all of this,” Jackson Kapera, 14, said. “We’re very self-sufficient here.”

To simulate a pioneer lifestyle, the group spent each night together on a flatbed trailer covered by a tarp, which simulated a traditional covered wagon. Students washed clothes in the nearby creek and hung them on clotheslines to dry.

Living conditions at the farm inspired a sense of appreciation for the work that goes into basic day-to-day tasks.

“The simple things are really enjoyable,” Maria Phelps said. “Like when you get that sandwich in the middle of the day, it’s amazing. It’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had in your life.”

Samaniego and her students planned to visit the Fort Worth Stockyards Saturday and make the trip home Sunday.

WEIRD SCIENCE – Maria Phelps uses divining rods to search for settler gravesites. The method for finding disturbances in the earth has no scientific backing, but proved effective in locating burial sites on the farm. Messenger photo by Joe Duty

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